The roads more travelled, traffic jams increase in city

The 135-km-long KMP expressway was planned to decongest NH-8, MG Road and other Delhi roads as vehicles plying between Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan could bypass Delhi.

However, the long delay in the project completion has put pressure on Gurgaon roads as vehicles plying to and fro Jaipur continue to use NH-8.

As a result, traffic jams have become the order of the day and have taken the sheen off Gurgaon's image as the emerging global city.

According to the detail project report submitted in 2009, after the project becomes operational, more than 7,000 trucks, 60,000 cars and 700 buses would bypass Delhi daily.

"In the past three years, this might have increased seven-eight times and causing tremendous pressure on Delhi and Gurgaon roads," said a senior HSIIDC official.

Traffic jams are common on the Gurgaon expressway and MG Road even in the night.

The KMP corridor passes through six districts of Haryana such as Palwal, Faridabad, Mewat, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonepat connecting India's four busiest national highways NH-1 near Kundli (Sonepat), NH-10 at near Bahadurgarh, NH-8 at Manesar (Gurgaon) and NH-2 near Palwal (Faridabad).

"We hope in another five six months some massive development will take place in terms of KMP Expressway. The issue is being discussed seriously at top levels of the Haryana government," said deputy commissioner PC Meena.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIDC) acquired over 3,330 acres of land in Gurgaon, Fairdabad, Sonepat, Mewat and Jhajjar for the project.

The total cost of the had been estimated at Rs. 1,915 crore, out of which the debt and equity amount is Rs. 1,149 crore and Rs. 766 crore respectively.